Finally, after long thought, he buys a pair of thin, worsted gloves, which he gets without a receipt.

Then he sits in one of those big beer halls on the Alexanderplatz, drinks a glass of beer, and has a bite to eat, without using his ration cards. It’s 1940, the looting of the invaded nations has begun, the German people are suffering no very great hardship. You can still find most things in the shops, and they’re not even all that expensive.

As far as the war itself is concerned, it’s being fought in foreign countries a long way from Berlin. Yes, from time to time English planes appear over the city. They drop a few bombs, and the next day the populace treks out to view the damage. Most of them laugh at what they see, and say, “Well, if that’s the best they can do, they’ll be busy for another hundred years, and meanwhile we’ll have removed their cities from the face of the earth!”

That’s the way people have been talking, and since France sued for peace, the number of people talking like that has grown considerably. Most people are impressed by success. A man like Otto Quangel, who during a prosperous period quits the ranks, is a rarity.

He sits there. He still has time, he doesn’t have to go to the factory yet. But now the stress of the last few days falls away. Now that he’s visited that corner building, now that he’s made those few small purchases, everything is decided in his mind. He doesn’t even need to think about what he still has to do. It’ll do itself, the way is open before him. He only needs to follow it. The decisive first few steps have already been taken.

When it’s time, he pays and heads out to the factory. Although it’s a long way from the Alexanderplatz, he walks. He’s spent enough money today, on transport, on little purchases, on food. Enough? Too much! Even though Quangel has decided on a whole new life, he won’t change his old habits. He will remain frugal, and will keep people away from him.

And then he’s back at work, alert and awake, laconic and unapproachable as ever. There’s no visible sign of the change in him.

Chapter 15

ENNO KLUGE GOES BACK TO WORK

When Otto Quangel turned up for work in the carpentry factory, Enno Kluge had already been standing at his lathe for six hours. Yes, the little man couldn’t stay in bed any longer, and in spite of his pain and his weakness he traveled to work. His welcome there was admittedly not that friendly, but what else could he expect?

“Ah, this is a rare pleasure, Enno!” his supervisor exclaimed. “How long are you planning on staying this time, one week or two?”

“I’m completely fit and healthy again, boss,” Enno Kluge eagerly assured him. “I’m able to work, and I will work, as you’ll see!”

“Well,” said his boss, unconvinced, and made as if to go. But he stopped a moment longer, looked Enno in the face appraisingly, and asked, “What’ve you done to your face? You look like you’ve been put through a mangle…”

Enno keeps his face down over the piece he’s working on and doesn’t look up as he finally replies, “Yes, that’s right, boss, a mangle…”

The boss stands there thoughtfully and goes on studying him. Finally, he thinks he can make sense of the whole thing, and he says, “Well, maybe it’s done the trick, and helped you recover some enthusiasm for work!”

With that, the supervisor moved off, and Enno Kluge was happy that his beating had been taken in that way. Let him think he had been roughed up for shirking, so much the better! He didn’t want to discuss it with anyone anyway. And if they all thought that, they wouldn’t bother him too much with their questions. At the most, they would laugh about him behind his back, and he thought: Let them, I don’t care. He wanted to work, and he wanted to astonish them!

With a modest smile, and yet not without pride, Enno Kluge put himself down for the voluntary extra shift on Sunday.